Looking from Canada to the United States, across Niagara's Horseshoe Falls

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Patronized by NHS Supervisor Smith AND the Standard

Here's a story by Shawn Jeffords "Standard series revealed need for changes at NHS, supervisor says" (St.Catharines Standard, Oct.13, 2011; my comments highlighted):
-For starters, just look at this headline (in the web edition) "Standard series revealed need for changes at NHS, supervisor says" - now, there's some self-tooting, pompous horn-blowing, right from the get-go in this story, from the Standard; honestly - are we really to believe this spin that Smith simply had no f*cking clue that the NHS was in dire need for changes - until he read the Standard's stories (which, btw, somehow never mentioned Liberal MPP Jim Bradley's role in anything to do with health care)?!Come on!And - if that's actually true - well, then, this Liberal-appointed supervisor is looking more and more like a Liberal-hack-puppet and deserves to be fired immediately. What patronizing crap...-
Niagara Health System supervisor Kevin Smith is vowing to tackle problems with the "hierarchy" at the beleaguered hospitals that contributed to the deadly Clostridium difficile outbreak. *Does this include the "hierarchy" of Liberals who have run the NHS into the ground since 2003, Sir?

Smith made the comment after reading a six-part Standard series that focused on the plight of NHS workers and patients as they cope with C. difficile. Thirty-six patients have now died as a result of the deadly superbug. He pointed to the story of NHS cleaner Cherie Bernard as a "disappointing" example that highlights the need for systemic change.
Bernard, a cleaner for 23 years at the NHS, was berated and belittled recently by a hospital visitor whom she asked to don protective gear while visiting a patient exhibiting symptoms of the superbug. * "23 years", eh? Funny, because the NHS was not in existence 23 years ago. Who made this exaggerated claim: reporter Jeffords, or Smith??
"The most disappointing read of the series was the story about the housekeeper who was treated like less than a professional, and told that she was 'just' a housekeeper," Smith said.
"That just infuriates me."* the most disappointing thing is a Supervisor who has not bothered to show Niagara that he is truly independent (and not beholden to Liberal government interest) by calling for a criminal investigation into the NHS's C. diff outbreak. Apparently that's not the "Canadian Way" - what ever that is...
He said it's imperative people with years of expertise, like Bernard, are fully included in the system. They can offer valuable insight into combating hospital-borne illnesses and must not be afraid to offer advice and guidance to doctors, nurses, patients or hospital visitors, he said.
"People stop offering constructive criticism when they keep offering it over and over again and nothing changes." *Liberals stop listening when they're re-elected over and over again...
Smith said the series also underscored the need to encourage patients to advocate for top-quality care. If hand-washing rates among medical professionals continue to remain low, patients must feel comfortable enough to remind doctors and nurses to scrub up before providing care. *Patients should be telling doctors and nurses this?!?
It's not an easy sell, he admits.
"Consumers must be more empowered to say, 'Don't touch me until you sanitize your hands,'" he said. "Don't give consent to be examined if your provider is arrogant enough to think they shouldn't wash their hands.*You're lecturing us about"consumers", Mr. Smith? Really?!! So now we're "consumers" - stuck in a no-choice f*cking Liberal health care monopoly? Are you kidding, man?? We're not "consumers" - we're PRISONERS trapped in arrogant Jim Bradley's hovel of health-care horror; we have NO f*cking choices here!
Smith was appointed by the province this summer to assume control of Niagara's troubled health-care system and complete a full review of its operations. Staff morale will be one of the major issues he'll tackle over the next 12 months, he said. *Expensive babysitter...
"We don't want to treat the staff like they did something wrong," he said. "We need to make sure they have the tools to do something right. On the frontline of health care today, there is a good deal of demoralization." *Did the staff do anything "wrong", though? How will anyone know, Mr Smith - if there is no independent inquiry? What did the political bosses tell the staff, Mr. Smith? 36 patients dead and counting, Mr. Smith - we need answers.
Smith said the series also stressed to him the need to increase communication with the community about the risks of coming to the hospital for care. A key part of winning back patient trust will be to tackle the fear that has made patients like Joe Kenny, who was featured in the final installment of the series, nervous about seeking care, he said.
"You have to be honest, it isn't a risk-free environment," he said. "We gather the sickest and frailest patients in hospital emergency rooms and in doing so, if you're not really ill, it's a bad place to be."*Hmmm... 'if you're not really ill in the emergency room, it's a bad place to be' (...great ad for the NHS, btw...) I guess people just hang out at the ER because they have nothing else to do?And, Mr. Smith - you do understand that 36 NHS patients who WERE ill, found out that your NHS WAS 'a bad place to be'?Stop the BS; stop the pandering. 36 dead: find the answers.
Smith said the NHS will have to work to decrease the length of some patients' hospital stays to ensure they aren't exposed needlessly to deadly superbugs. *as opposed to being exposed purposefully? WTF..? The hospital can also re-establish community trust if it remains vigilant about infection control, he said.
"Persuade me that the Niagara Health System is at the leading edge of preventing hospital-acquired infection," he said. "I think that helps." *Persuade us that Jim Bradley's monopolist Liberals weren't negligent in allowing the 2011 C. difficile outbreak to occur; that would help.
Smith said the stories also highlight the need to limit the use of so-called "super-antibiotics" that are used to combat serious infections but can also leave a patient vulnerable to a C. difficile infection.
"In days of old, the view was, 'Use the strong drug and knock everything out.' Now, we're realizing knocking everything out also means the good stuff and that can be very bad if you're very sick."*"In days of old" - what the hell does this cavalier generalization of Smith's even mean?! When specifically is the "old" and the "now" to which Smith refers?What specific date/s is Smith referring to - before 2003?!Or is Smith referring to 2008, when McGuinty and Bradley's Liberals refused to call a public inquiry into the C. diff outbreak that had already then killed 500 Ontarians? Was Smith referring to 2008, when McGuinty and Bradley said nothing about limiting antibiotics, telling Ontarians that we just had to trust the Liberals, because they knew what they were doing?!Did reporter Jeffords bother to ask Smith to actually explain any of his murky generalizations?!!...uh... nope...!!!!!
Smith is back in Niagara Friday to continue his work. He is gathering input and has come to no conclusions yet, but is seeing areas he wants to address, he said.
He said the Standard series puts a human face on workers who coped with the outbreak. *Oh, gosh, yes... the St.Catharines Jim Bradley-bootlicking Standard... ever so conveniently helpful, eh?
"Historically, we've seen the human faces particularly around the tragic cases or the very ill where hospital-borne infection has … been the cause of death. You saw a different view by talking to the frontline providers, who really do want to give good care."*And, who will talk to the Liberals on behalf of the dead C. diff patients, and the infected survivors, who surely also 'really wanted to receive good care' - but didn't ??
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